Recently, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Information Center was involved in a daunting task: preparing and mailing over 1,800 copies of the new Thinking for a Change 3.1 resource pack in a single day. Several NIC Academy staff volunteered to help, including Bernie Iszler, former probation officer for Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and now NIC Academy Correctional Program Specialist. At one point, she picked up a T4C 3.1 disk pack and said: “You know, we’re not just mailing out a resource, we’re mailing out hope! We are mailing out hope to those who often have little hope.” That really captured the essence of Thinking for a Change. It is an evidence-based cognitive behavioral intervention targeting medium to high risk offenders that is easily delivered, and facilitates thinking and behavior change. By participating in that process, it gives offenders hope and correctional professionals the sense of making a difference. That makes Thinking for a Change a win-win for both staff and offenders.
Joel Botner, Re-entry Coordinator for Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation, says “staff want to make a difference. The theory is change thinking to change behavior, but how do staff accomplish that? They need a good practical tool. NIC’s Thinking for Change is that tool for us. The curriculum is well thought out, simple, easy to grasp and use. It is our vehicle for engaging inmates in change.”
How often have correctional staff asked that particular question? Or how often have staff thought (but not actually said): “ If you had taken a moment to think, perhaps you wouldn't be here right now”. There are all those stereotypes about offenders: impulsive, self-centered, want it now, don’t plan ahead, suffer from thinking errors, and sometimes can be behaviorally described as “6 foot four-year olds”. Correctional professionals read the classics like Samenow and Yochelson’s “The Criminal Personality” and Samenow’s “Inside the Criminal Mind” (as well as all the literature that follows) and then try to unlock and modify the “criminal personality” in order to change behavior, rehabilitate, and impact recidivism. The results are some fairly sophisticated behavior-change models that can take rigorous training, credentialing, and preparation to implement.
NIC’s Thinking for a Change (T4C) model was originally developed by Jack Bush, Barry Glick, and Juliana Taymans in the 1990’s in a project managed by NIC Academy’s Steve Swisher. Recently, there has been a significant revision in T4C in a project managed by NIC Academy’s Michael Guevara that resulted in Thinking for a Change 3.1. NIC’s T4C model consists of three components that target change in offenders around social skills, cognitive self-change, and problem solving skills. This is achieved through trained facilitators delivering a series of lessons to offenders in small groups over a series of weeks. T4C can be delivered in an institutional as well as a community corrections setting. These lessons include modeling and practicing skills while in class as well as “home work” to give offenders the opportunity to try the skills in the real world and report back successes. NIC recommends keeping group sizes small (12 offenders) and using two facilitators delivering two sessions a week with plenty of time for offenders to practice and apply the skills between sessions.
The new Thinking for a Change 3.1 consists of 25 lessons. Beyond the addition of more lessons and some re-organization, there are additional enhancements in 3.1. NIC’s Michael Guevara says: “There were four goals in the T4C revision project. Clarify, update, make it easier to deliver, and more fully integrate the three components. We have achieved this with the release of T4C 3.1”
Guevara also makes some best practice recommendations for delivery: “Program fidelity and integrity are critical. It is very important to stick to the curriculum. Always use two trained facilitators. Deliver two sessions a week. Target the right clients: medium to high risk offenders. Make sure everyone has the opportunity to try every skill during class. Everyone does the work. Everyone does the “home work”. Make sure everyone gets feedback.” Guevara takes pride in the product: “NIC has created an evidence-based program that can be delivered at any level. The overwhelming response from the field is that it fosters positive change. If T4C 3.1 is implemented with integrity and fidelity, offenders can make changes”.
2013 will be a transition year for training T4C facilitators. Previously, facilitators were trained in a 4 day face-to-face classroom event. Beginning in 2013, facilitator preparation will begin with an initial 20 hours of distance learning (virtual instructor-led training, “homework” assignments, viewing videos, and preparing to deliver a T4C lesson). After that, T4C facilitator trainees participate in a 16 hour classroom event which includes staff modeling delivery and skills as well as participants delivering T4C lessons and obtaining feedback and coaching. Watch the NIC website as well as the Thinking for a Change Discussion Forum for announcements concerning T4C 3.1 facilitator training.
The T4C 3.1 resource pack is available for order at no charge. It is also available in an on-line version. The only restriction is that the intended use is with offenders, meaning those under supervision of correctional entities or courts. Using T4C with other than offenders requires permission of the original authors.
Other supportive resources:
NIC’s Bernie Iszler says: “Running T4C groups was the hardest work I did – it was also the best work I did as a probation officer. We did a research project while I was at Tippecanoe County that showed T4C made a difference. Participation lowered the odds of re-offending, even for those who did not complete the program. Why settle for changing one life if I can change a whole group of them?”
Peggy Bryan, Cognitive Behavioral Services Manager for the Kansas Department of Corrections and veteran T4C facilitator/trainer, always closes her T4C deliveries with this benediction: “I’m not going to wish you good luck, but good choices”. That captures the true spirit of the program.
So now you know NIC’s Thinking for a Change provides offenders with the tools and skills to make a difference in themselves and make good choices. Perhaps now is the time to make a good choice for your agency and give NIC’s T4C 3.1 a try.
Points of view or opinions stated in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.